Kip Moore is something of a national treasure here in the UK. Ever since his debut at the C2C festival in 2015, when he signed autographs long into the night at the entrance booths, (something still the stuff of C2C legend) he has held a special place in our hearts. One of the first of the modern batch of Country musicians to see the UK as a viable market worth developing, Moore has toured here religiously, building his fan base from the ground up. So, the release of ‘Damn Love’, Moore’s fifth studio album is an eagerly anticipated event, as will be his tour in May and appearance at the Highways festival in London as headliner.
‘Damn Love’ contains 13 tracks. It’s a tight set held together by an overarching narrative theme of love, relationships and the vagaries of the human heart. Long time fans used to hearing Moore’s usual themes of nostalgia, missed opportunities and dislocation will still hear that on ‘Damn Love’ but an awful lot of hope has been added into the mix this time around and there has also been a shift in the sonics too, as Moore coats a number of these songs with a lighter, keyboard driven 80s sheen.
Back in 1984 Bruce Springsteen released his epic, anthemic, arena-based album ‘Born to Run’ but three years later he followed it up with the altogether more restrained, introspective ‘Tunnel of Love’ album. ‘Damn Love’ is Moore’s ‘Tunnel of Love’ moment. It is reflective project and aside from the odd track, like the title track, it is an altogether more introspective album built for quiet moments and more intimate performances. Just as ‘Tunnel of Love’ took some Springsteen fans by surprise, ‘Damn Love’ isn’t as immediate or as bombastic as some of Moore’s previous albums. It contains less ‘headline’ moments but, like all good music, it will breathe with repeated listens. It’s an album built for exploration, not for brief listens before you put the louder, more showier tracks onto a greatest hits playlist and move on.
It’s clear that Kip Moore and the record label see the title track, ‘Damn Love’ as the driver behind the initial push on this project. It was the first release, the lead off track and it’s also being sent to Country radio. I might have been tempted to lead with ‘Heart on Fire’ but what do I know? Both tracks are the most radio-friendly potential hits on the album. The title track is quintessential Kip Moore. It builds from a slow, atmospheric start with a hint of an 80s movie soundtrack about it (more of that to come later) before breaking out into the kind of chorus we’ve come to expect from Kip Moore as he ruminates on the nature of love in all its different guises. ‘Heart on Fire’, meanwhile, is pure Pop/Rock joy, a real shot of ear worm adrenaline straight out of The Boss’s arena-leaning 80s playbook. The 80s styled production values are writ large across a track that is one of the album’s rare ‘Born in the USA’ moments. Both songs deserve to be singles and perhaps we’ll see ‘Heart on Fire’ make a late summer, early Autumn play for attention as the seasons change and people cling to their summer memories?
‘Kinda Bar’ and the duet with Ashley McBryde, ‘One Heartbeat’, could also make a case for being sent to radio. The former, a rugged yet simple bar-room drinking song, feels like it shares a strong genealogy with Moore’s debut breakout hit ‘Something ‘Bout a Truck’ and is actually a little jarringly out of place on a slickly produced, 80s leaning album: as if it was thrown into the mix at the last moment by the record company who might have been a little concerned about the sonic shift away from southern guitar rock? ‘One Heartbeat’, meanwhile, is going to be a song that surprises a lot of people. When you imagine Moore and McBryde together you imagine grit, dirt and southern fire but ‘One Heartbeat’ is quite the opposite, unlike any song either artist has ever recorded before. This is ‘Islands in the Stream’ Moore and McBryde at their most commercial with a catchy chorus and hearts, unicorns and kissing-in-the-rain rom-com feels. Like many of the songs on ‘Damn Love’ it isn’t what you are expecting but that doesn’t diminish the impact or the art in any way, it’s you that has the problem, not them!
If it is radio that the record label need to court during this cycle they could do worse than give ‘Sometimes She Stays’ its moment in the sun. ‘……Stays’ is an outstanding song and something a little different in Kip Moore’s armoury. The cadence of the melody is refreshing and Moore creates a really intimate atmosphere as he details the beginning of a relationship and how the shifts and evolutions in the emotions come into play. It’s another hopeful song, something Moore is clearly focusing on on this album. ‘Life will never be the same again,’ he sings, ‘You’ll never want it any other way.’ This is a song that grows from listen to listen and if you give it time and patience it might well become one of your favourite songs from this album in terms of the way it burrows in and embeds itself into both your consciousness and heart.
Elsewhere the songs are less commercially obvious although no less meaningful. ‘Neon Blue’ has a lighter feel although Moore’s usual themes of isolation, nostalgia and individualism are still at play here as he sings about ‘blowing in the wind like an old tumbleweed, don’t know where I’m going but that’s where I’ll be.’ ‘Some Things’, meanwhile, is another positive-coloured song that builds to a typically restrained but catchy chorus too but it is the mid-section double whammy of ‘Silver and Gold’ and ‘Peace and Love’ where we find the biggest shift in sound and style on this album. Both songs feel like they could have been lifted straight from an 80’s movie soundtrack like ‘The Breakfast Club’. Driven by a lighter touch than we are used to with Moore’s music, ‘Silver and Gold’ still finds him exploring the motives and meanings behind people’s behaviours. ‘I don’t know a lot,’ he sings, ‘but I’ve learned a little something…….all the silver and gold add but to nothing.’ The song is pure, unadulterated Pop music and, again, that shift might well throw some people off but the foundations and the themes are still the same. ‘Peace and Love’ is also awash in ‘Breakfast Club’ vibes and 80s production values although it does break out in a more-typically rocky chorus as Moore sings about finding ‘peace and love on the inside.’ A stand out guitar solo and anthemic breakdown heralds in the songs’ final third as Moore lists the things, like church, bars, friends and old guitars that people take comfort in.
Ever since ‘Guitar Man’ on Moore’s third album, ‘Slowheart’, he’s had a tendency to want to show his fans a little bit of his life behind the curtain as a travelling troubadour and ‘sad song singer’. “Damn Love’ has a number of songs designed to develop and build on that. ‘Mr Simple’ is a sparse, acoustic folk-leaning look at getting back to basics in which Moore reflects on the ‘thin line that the world tells you and what’s really true.’ Another Night in Knoxville’ is a 70s rock ballad with strong Bob Seeger overtones in which Moore tells a very cinematic story of missed opportunities as he shines a light on how difficult it is for touring artists to form stable relationships. ‘Mickey’s Bar’, meanwhile, kind of continues that theme and 70s sound as it closes down ‘Damn Love’ with another very cinematic story but it is on the album’s stand-out track, ‘The Guitar Slinger’ that Kip Moore really pours out his heart in a 6 minute epic that should be the centre-point of all his live shows in this phase of his career.
‘The Guitar Slinger’ might well share a narrative origin with ‘Guitar Man’ from ‘Slowheart’ but, sonically, it is a million miles apart. Both songs are about the dislocation that comes with being out on the road. The loneliness of the travelling troubadour binds both songs together but whereas ‘Guitar Man’ was a simple, Gaelic-leaning folk song ‘The Guitar Slinger’ is all Rock bombast and ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’ vibes. Those Bon Jovi overtones mean you are left feeling that guitar histrionics might well explode at any given moment in the song and there is a great solo around the 3 minute mark but it is in the songs’ final minute where that really does come to fruition. Moore’s raspy vocals and gritty passion shine bright on this fantastically dramatic and impactful song and if he doesn’t end his shows with it on the upcoming UK tour we will riot!
Early press for ‘Damn Love’ has described the songs on offer here as being ‘ruggedly poetic’ and that’s not a bad starting point. Moore has chosen to focus largely on the positive in this exploration of the human condition. There aren’t as many ‘big’ moments as you might well be expecting from him: the guitars are held back and the vocals more restrained, but that doesn’t diminish the impact of the journey he wants to take you on. An 80s style sheen and lighter production takes a little getting used to but once you are onboard you’ll find the songs begin to breathe a little as Moore leaves behind the bright lights of the arena masses and takes you through his very own version of ‘Tunnel of Love’. For those that ride the journey to the end, you’ll find some rich rewards.
Tracklist: 1. Damn Love 2. Mika Bar 3. Neon Blue 4. The Guitar Slinger 5. Heart on Fire 6. Another Night in Knoxville 7. Silver and Gold 8. Peace & Love 9. Sometimes She Stays 10. Some Things 11. One Heartbeat 12. Mr Simple 13. Micky’s Bar Record Label: Universal / Snakefarm Release Date: 28th April Buy ‘Damn Love’ now
